Safety device for gun-closures.



' PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908.

M. HBRMSDORF.

SATETY DEVICE FOR GUN GLOSURBS. uruouxon FILED JAN. 9, i907.

I No. 891,837

UNITED TATES 'PATT @FFIQE.

MAX HERMSDORF, OF ESSEN-ON-THE-RUHR, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO FRIED. KRUPP AKTIENGESELLSOHAFT, OF ESSEN-ON-THE-RUHR, GERMANY.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR GUN-OLOSURES.

Patented June 30, 1908.

Application filed January 9, 1907. Serial No. 351,521.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAX HERMSDORF, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, and a resident of Essen-on-the-Ruhr, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Gun-Closures, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to safety devices for gun-closures and the object of the invention is to improve those safety devices which prevent the opening of the gun-closures in case of misfire and which are provided with a locking part which on firing, is withdrawn from its locking position through the medium of a member moved by its own inertia.

In the accompanying drawing, the invention is, by way of example, shown as applied to a vertical wedge breech mechanism having an operating lever.

Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section of the breech mechanism, the parts being shown in the positions which they assume immediately before firing; Fig. 2 is a corresponding rear view, partly in section on line 22, Fig. 1;-Fig. 3 is a part of a corresponding top view with some parts broken away; Fig. 4 shows a part of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 4,partly in section; Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to that shown in Fig. 1, the breech mechanism being unlocked Fig. 7 is a part of Fig. 6 on an enlarged scale and Fig. 8 a view corresponding to that shown in Fig. 1, the breechmechanism being opened.

The operating lever R for opening and.

closing the breechmechanism engages in a groove 76 in the breech block or wedge K through the medium of a heart-shaped stud r. The shaft r of the operating lever is journaled in the breech L and is provided with a hand-lever M. hen the lever M is turned from the position shown in Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrow 00 (Fig. 1) the breech-mechanism is opened.

A pendulum P and a locking piece Q are swingingly arranged on a bolt N which is secured in the breech L and which is parallel to the shaft r of the operating lever. The locking piece Q is shaped like a bell-crank lever and one of its arms is provided with a lateral projection Q2 while its other arm terminates in a weight The projection g is adapted to cooperate with a nose m provided on the nave of the hand-lever M. The weight g tends to hold the projection g in engagement with the nose m, 11. c. with the hand-lever M. The pendulum P is provided with a cam p for which a recess m is provided in the nave of the hand-lever. A leafspring 0, which is secured to the breech tends to hold the pendulum in its position of rest (Fig. 1) in which position a tooth 0 on the spring engages in a notch 19 in the pendulum. In this position of-the pendulum, its center of gravity is on the one hand above the axis of rotation of the pendulum and on the other hand so located that at any elevation within the rangeof the gun-barrel, the

pendulum has a moment due to gravity and v tending to turn the pendulum in the direction of the arrow y (Fig. 1), that is to say, in the same direction as the turning momentum which acts on the pendulum on recoil.

The pendulum P is capable of a limited rotation relatively to the locking piece Q and to this end the locking piece Q is provided with a pin g (Figs. 4, 5 and 7) which projects into a short groove 10. in the nave of the pendulum P.

Immediately before firing takes place, the parts occupy the relative positions shown in Figs. 1 to 5, in which the'projection Q2 of the locking piece Q engages with the nose m of the hand-lever M in such a manner that the hand-lever is secured against turning to open the breech mechanism. The pendulum P is held in its position of rest, through the engagement of the tooth 0 of the spring 0 with the notch p The cam p is out of engagement with the recess m of the handlever M and the pin g is located in the middle of the groove 1).

On the recoil which accompanies the firing, the pendulum P turns, under the action of its inertia, in the direction of the arrow y (Fig. 1) until the cam 19 hits the bottom of the recess m (Figs. 6 and 7) and the interlocking parts 0 p are separated. During the first part of this movement of the pendulum, the locking piece Q remains at rest but it partakes of the movement of the pendulum as soon as the left hand wall of the groove 19 hits the pin g. The turning of the locking piece Q results in the projection g passing out of the path of travel of the nose m (Figs. 6 and 7). The hand-lever M can now be turned in the direction of the arrow :0 (Fig. 1) that is to say, the breech-mechanism can be opened.

When the breech-mechanism is opened, the pendulum is turned back into its original position due to cooperation of the cam p with the bottom face of the recess m which face is eccentric to the axis of rotation of the hand-lever M. At the end of this movement of the pendulum, the parts 0 p are again brought into interlocking position. The action of the weight 9 causes the locking piece Q to follow the rotation of the pendulum and immediately after the turning of the handlever M has been started, the projection g of the locking piece lies against the curved face of the nose m and by reason of the shape of the nose m (see the drawing), the locking piece also returns to its original position at the end of the turning movement of the handlever M. When the breech-mechanism is entirely opened the parts occupy the positions shown in Fig. 8. The pin g is then again located in the middle of the groove p.

When the breech-mechanism is closed, which is done by turning the hand-lever M in the direction of the arrow 2 (Fig. 8), the locking piece first turns in the direction-of the arrow 11, (Fig. 8) due to the cooperation of the projection g with the curved face of the nose m, and after the hand-lever has reached its position of rest (Fig. 1) the locking piece swings back into its position of rest under the action of the weight 9 During these pro ceedings the pendulum retains its position, which is determined by the engagement of the nose 0 in the notch 29 for the reason that in the positions of the parts shown in Fig. 8 the pin 9 has so much play in the groove p that the locking piece can make the aforesaid turning movement relatively to the pendulum. After the breech-mechanism is closed, the parts, therefore, again occupy the positions shown in Fig. 1, in which the nose m of the hand lever and the projection g of the locking piece Q secure the hand-lever M against turning in the direction to open the breech-mechanism. If, however, ignition of the driving charge does not take place when the trigger is pulled, and a hang-fire, therefore, may be expected, the parts retain the positions shown in Figs. 1 to 5. Before the breech-mechanism can be opened, it is then necessary to turn the locking piece Q by hand until its projection Q2 enters out of engagement with the nose m of the handlever M.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that in the securing device according to the present invention, when the gun is fired, the pendulum P does not commence to act on the locking piece Q until the pendulum has made a part of its turning movement. The mass to be moved by the recoil is, therefore, under otherwise equal circumstances considerably smaller in the present device than in the known devices of similar type in which the member to be set in motion by the recoil acts on the locking member proper from the start of its movement. In the present arrangement, the locking member proper is, therefore, withdrawnwith more certainty than in the known devices of similar type. This result is also assisted by the fact that the pendulum at any elevation of the gun-barrel tends to turn in the direction of withdrawal of the locking member by reason of the aforesaid position of the center of gravity of the pendulum relativelyto the axis of rotation of the pendulum. These facts make the invention adapted even for guns without barrel recoil.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a recoil gun, the combination with the gun breech and the breech block, of a safety device comprising a locking member for the breech block, and means recoiling with the gun and mounted to move by its own inertia on recoil to withdraw said locking member from its locking position; said means having delayed action on said locking member.

2. The combination with the gun breech and the breech block, of a safety device comprising a locking member for the breech block, and a swinging member mounted to swing by its own inertia on recoil to withdraw said locking member from its looking position; said swinging member being adapted to move a predetermined distance before it enters into effective engagement with said locking member.

3. In a recoil gun, the combination with the gun breech and the breech block, of a safety device comprising a locking member for the breech block, and means mounted to move by its own inertia on recoil to withdraw said loeking member from its locking position during recoil; said means being adapted to move apredetermined distance before it enters into effective engagement with said locking member.

4. A safety device for gun breech mechanisms, comprising locking means having locking engagement with the breech-mechanisms, and a pendulum mounted to swing by its own inertia on firing to withdraw said locking means from its locking position; said pendulum having its center of gravity above its axis of rotation and so located that at any elevation, within the range of the gun-barrel, the said pendulum has a moment due to gravity and tends to turn in the same direction as the turning momentum which acts on the pendulum on recoil.

5. A safety device for breech-mechanisms comprising a locking member having locking engagement with the breech-mechanism, a

pendulum mounted to move by its own inertia on firing to withdraw said locking member from its locking position and having play relatively to said locking member, and means for yieldingly holding the pendulum out of engagement with the locking member.

6. The combination with the gun breech, the breech block and the operating lever for moving the breech block, of a safety device comprising a locking member for the operating lever, and means recoiling with the gun and mounted to move by its own inertia on recoil to withdraw said locking member from its locking position; said means having delayed action on said locking member.

7. The combination with the breech mechanism locking means, and means mounted to move under its own inertia, of a connection between the locking means and the latter means for operating the locking means, constructed to permit a relative movement between the locking means and the means moving under its own inertia, yielding means holding thelatter means against movement, and means causing the locking means to move into locking engagement independently of the means moving under its own inertia.

8. The combination with the breech mechanism operating lever, locking means for the same, and means mounted to move under its own inertia, of connection between the latter means and the locking means, constructed to permit a relative movement between the means moving under its own inertia and the means for restoring the locking means to locking position independently of the means moving under its own inertia.

9. A safety device for breech mechanisms comprising a locking means having a locking engagement With the breech-mechanism, and a pendulum mounted to move by its own inertia on firing to withdraw said lockin means from its locking position and having limited movement relatively to said locking means Without operating on said locking means.

The foregoing specification signed at Dusseldorf, Germany, this twelfth day of December, 1906.

MAX .HERMSDORF. 

